Abstract: A wealth of evidence attests to the critical role that student-teacher relationships play in a
variety of developmental outcomes for children. These relationships are complex and
multifaceted, influenced by factors both within and external to the child. The current study
examines the relationships between child temperament and student-teacher relationship
quality in a sample of 47 preschool children. Parents provided ratings of their preschool
children’s temperaments on the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. Teachers reported their
perceptions of the quality of the relationships they experienced with students on the Student-
Teacher Relationship Scale. It was expected that various individual and combined child
temperament traits would predict student-teacher relationship quality. Results of multiple
regression analysis generally did not support the hypothesis, although there was some
support for an association between the interaction between two clusters of temperament traits
– Social Response/ Mood (Mood, Adaptability, Approach) and Stimulation/ Energy
(Threshold of Responses, Intensity of Responses, and Distractibility) – and Closeness in the
student-teacher relationship. The results provide support for existing literature that questions
the role of temperament in attachment and subsequent adult-child relationships. The findings
indicate the need to assume a multifaceted, ecological approach to understanding the
variables that predict student-teacher relationship quality, which considers the contributions
of environmental variables, as well as the interactions between various within-child and
environmental variables.